Seven years after his last visit to SpainBad Bunny will close this Monday his residence in Madrid converted into a global phenomenon after bringing together more than 600,000 people between Madrid and Barcelona, a radically different scenario from his previous time in Europe, when he was forced to suspend his concerts to focus on the turbulent political news of Puerto Rico. “My people need me and I need them”were the words with which the artist Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio He canceled his European tour in July 2019 to become one of the main figures of massive demonstrations that lasted for 10 days and ended with the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló, cornered by a corruption scandal and the filtration of sexist, homophobic and classist messages.
that episode marked a turning point in the artist’s career and prompted him to become the icon of Puerto Rico. Bad Bunny is no longer just a reggaeton star and has established himself as the reference of a generation willing to challenge power. The massive protests of the so-called ”Boricua Summer” were encouraged by the role of the musicians. “The figure of Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin o Calle 13 It gave the Puerto Rican what he needed to go out on the streets. They did not mind getting into political issues at that historical moment. They made an appearance and the people supported them“explains to EL PERIÓDICO Edwin Marrero Santiagocommunity leader and founder of Almirante Da La Mano, from the same neighborhood where Benito grew up.
Residente, iLe and Bad Bunny came together against the clock to write ‘Afilando los knives’, a song that aims to reflect the anger of Puerto Rico and that led the protests after adding 2.5 million views in just one day. “That Ricardo Rosselló is incompetent | Homophobic, liar, criminal | Nobody loves you, not even your own people,” this ‘single’ denounced. Benito joined the demonstrations on July 22, the most massive dayand had a crucial role due to his appearances on social networks: “The people are the only victims here. Or you are with the abusive government or you are with the people. There is no in between. “Rosselló filled the cup and he gets the fury of an entire country,” he wrote.
“The country belongs to us”
He reggaeton and ‘perreo’, which for decades were despised by the elites Political and cultural expressions such as vulgar expressions associated with popular neighborhoods became the symbol of the protest. Thousands of young people took to the streets called by the artists in “combative ‘perreos'”, concentrations where dancing was also a way to reflect the resistance of the Puerto Rican people. Songs that for years had been accused of encouraging promiscuity and intended to disparage women and working-class queers acquired a new political meaning.
“When those first old school artists were there, they even legislated against it in Puerto Rico. That’s why simply ‘perrear’ or playing reggaeton was their way of denouncing that they didn’t want that governor,” says Marrero. For many, it was the way to claim that all types of people had a place in Puerto Rico and not just those intended by the Rosselló Government, which ended up with 80 members of the Administration imprisoned for corruption. “They have made us believe that those who take to the streets are crazy and criminals. Let’s show them that today’s generation demands respect. The country does not belong to them, it belongs to us“Wrote Bad Bunny on his social networks.
The Puerto Ricans wanted to demonstrate that the true vulgarity was in Rosselló’s statements, who mocked women, the LGTBI community and the thousands of deaths from Hurricane María, and not in his dances. “The reuse of songs and the ‘perreo’ that once caused so much anguish due to their perceived vulgarity took on a new meaning of defiance, highlighting that true vulgarity “It is not in reggaeton nor in the black and queer working communities that used it to protest,” collects the book ‘P FKN R: Bad Bunny and music as an act of resistance’. “Reggaeton has never been interested in respectability. Disrupts associations between Puerto Ricanness and respectabilitywhile shedding light on the current colonial realities that the archipelago faces,” they detail.
‘DtMF’: his most vindictive album
In some way, the turbulent history of Puerto Rico has defined Bad Bunny as an artist. The hurricane, the cuts in education that directly affected his family – his mother was a teacher – or the debt crisis, appear more or less directly in his lyrics. ‘La Velita’ reflects the feeling of helplessness in which the Puerto Ricans were left and ‘La MuDANZA’ contains images and references of independence of the country. In ‘DtMF’ comes the artist’s greatest maturity and it is his album with the most political references, from the endemic toad of Puerto Rico that talks about gentrification to criticism of colonialism.
“Songs like ‘One night in Miami’ or ‘We’re fine’ explain the transition from being a neighborhood kid to being the number one star. Without the neighborhood, his family, his friends, what he was taught in the church, fame would have sucked him away like many other artists who have unfortunately ended up in vice.” Bad Bunny has taken it upon himself to share his own identity with the rest of the world. “Benito did nothing other than tell what Puerto Ricans are like, that They open the door to both the billionaire and the poor. Everyone comes to my house and if I have a piece of chicken we are going to cut it so that it can go to everyone who is there here. and let him be my guest,” explains Marrrero.
“He has taken care of elevate Puerto Ricanness, what the ‘jíbaro’ is. Before it meant being a brute, an illiterate What he does is deal with the countryside, with agriculture, with the land. Before it was used derogatorily and now everyone wants to be ‘jíbaro,'” Edwin acknowledges. “Benito is a blessing for this neighborhood. It is a pride that we can tell the young people here that not only achieving success means having fame, but that all areas of Benito’s life, with humility, with discipline, and above all with a lot of respect for his elders, that is what we also project to future generations,” he details.
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